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U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree Cutting

On Friday, Nov. 1, 2013, the U.S. Forest service cut an 88-foot Engelmann Spruce from the Colville National Forest, near Usk, Wash., to serve as this year's U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree. A few hundred people attended to see the beginning of a journey the tree, which is the first from Eastern Washington, will take through 11 states before being lit in Washington D.C. on Dec. 4. These photos were shot for a Pacific Northwest Inlander assignment.

The U.S. Forest Service's Jim Beckwith sets up crane rigging on an eighty-eight foot Engelmann Spruce, destined to be the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree, in the Colville National Forest, in Pend Oreille County, Wash., on Friday, November 1, 2013. (Young Kwak/The Pacific Northwest Inlander)

U.S. Forest Service employees Alex Jess, center, and Michael Rude hand Jim Beckwith a saw at an eighty-eight foot Engelmann Spruce, destined to be the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree, in the Colville National Forest, in Pend Oreille County, Wash., on Friday, November 1, 2013. (Young Kwak/The Pacific Northwest Inlander)

Smokey the Bear, left, hangs out with (left to right) U.S. Forest Service employee Gayne Sears, Chelsea Earls, her 8 year old daughter Olivia and 5 year old son Oliver before an eighty-eight foot Engelmann Spruce, destined to be the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree, is cut, in the Colville National Forest, in Pend Oreille County, Wash., on Friday, November 1, 2013. (Young Kwak/The Pacific Northwest Inlander)

4 year old Maggie McClure, left, and her 7year old brother Connor eat cookies and drink hot chocolate, as their mother Erin watches, before an eighty-eight foot Engelmann Spruce, destined to be the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree, is cut, in the Colville National Forest, in Pend Oreille County, Wash., on Friday, November 1, 2013. (Young Kwak/The Pacific Northwest Inlander)

Goff Daily, right, holds his 9 month old son Sean before an eighty-eight foot Engelmann Spruce, destined to be the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree, is cut, in the Colville National Forest, in Pend Oreille County, Wash., on Friday, November 1, 2013. (Young Kwak/The Pacific Northwest Inlander)

Margaret Schmidt, right, shows her husband Dennis a photo before an eighty-eight foot Engelmann Spruce, destined to be the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree, is cut, in the Colville National Forest, in Pend Oreille County, Wash., on Friday, November 1, 2013. (Young Kwak/The Pacific Northwest Inlander)

Kalispel Tribe Cultural Program Assistant Director J.R. Bluff keeps a drum warm before an eighty-eight foot Engelmann Spruce, destined to be the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree, is cut, in the Colville National Forest, in Pend Oreille County, Wash., on Friday, November 1, 2013. (Young Kwak/The Pacific Northwest Inlander)

Brian Montgomery pours hot water for hot chocolate before an eighty-eight foot Engelmann Spruce, destined to be the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree, is cut, in the Colville National Forest, in Pend Oreille County, Wash., on Friday, November 1, 2013. (Young Kwak/The Pacific Northwest Inlander)

Sonia Wirth, left, holding her 20 month old daughter Sadie, and Stephanie Wirth wait for an eighty-eight foot Engelmann Spruce, destined to be the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree, is cut, in the Colville National Forest, in Pend Oreille County, Wash., on Friday, November 1, 2013. (Young Kwak/The Pacific Northwest Inlander)

9 year old Ian Hicks throws a log on a fire before an eighty-eight foot Engelmann Spruce, destined to be the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree, is cut, in the Colville National Forest, in Pend Oreille County, Wash., on Friday, November 1, 2013. (Young Kwak/The Pacific Northwest Inlander)

U.S. Forest Service employee Ben Curtis, center, reviews some procedures before an eighty-eight foot Engelmann Spruce, destined to be the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree, is cut, in the Colville National Forest, in Pend Oreille County, Wash., on Friday, November 1, 2013. (Young Kwak/The Pacific Northwest Inlander)

6 year old Riley Sampson hugs Woodsy Owl before an eighty-eight foot Engelmann Spruce, destined to be the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree, is cut, in the Colville National Forest, in Pend Oreille County, Wash., on Friday, November 1, 2013. (Young Kwak/The Pacific Northwest Inlander)

Kalispel Tribe Cultural Program Director Francis Cullooyah speaks before an eighty-eight foot Engelmann Spruce, destined to be the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree, is cut in the Colville National Forest, in Pend Oreille County, Wash., on Friday, November 1, 2013. (Young Kwak/The Pacific Northwest Inlander)

Members of the Kalispel Tribe perform a flag song and an honor song before an eighty-eight foot Engelmann Spruce, destined to be the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree, is cut in the Colville National Forest, in Pend Oreille County, Wash., on Friday, November 1, 2013. (Young Kwak/The Pacific Northwest Inlander)

U.S. Forest Service employee John Wirth cuts an eighty-eight foot Engelmann Spruce, destined to be the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree, in the Colville National Forest, in Pend Oreille County, Wash., on Friday, November 1, 2013. (Young Kwak/The Pacific Northwest Inlander)

Members of the media and the general public watch an eighty-eight foot Engelmann Spruce, destined to be the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree, cut, in the Colville National Forest, in Pend Oreille County, Wash., on Friday, November 1, 2013. (Young Kwak/The Pacific Northwest Inlander)

Debbie Lutz, left, and her husband Bob photograph and film during the cutting of an eighty-eight foot Engelmann Spruce, destined to be the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree, in the Colville National Forest, in Pend Oreille County, Wash., on Friday, November 1, 2013. (Young Kwak/The Pacific Northwest Inlander)

An eighty-eight foot Engelmann Spruce, destined to be the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree, is lifted by a crane in the Colville National Forest, in Pend Oreille County, Wash., on Friday, November 1, 2013. (Young Kwak/The Pacific Northwest Inlander)

An eighty-eight foot Engelmann Spruce, destined to be the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree, is lifted by a crane in the Colville National Forest, in Pend Oreille County, Wash., on Friday, November 1, 2013. In the foreground is the stump of the tree. (Young Kwak/The Pacific Northwest Inlander)

U.S. Forest Service employee John Wirth cuts the bottom off an eighty-eight foot Engelmann Spruce, destined to be the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree, in the Colville National Forest, in Pend Oreille County, Wash., on Friday, November 1, 2013. (Young Kwak/The Pacific Northwest Inlander)

U.S. Forest Service employee Cally Davidson, left, and Pend Oreille County Public Works employee Bernie Nelson place a bag on the base of an eighty-eight foot Engelmann Spruce, destined to be the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree, in the Colville National Forest, in Pend Oreille County, Wash., on Friday, November 1, 2013. (Young Kwak/The Pacific Northwest Inlander)

Workers guide an eighty-eight foot Engelmann Spruce, destined to be the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree, onto a truck, in the Colville National Forest, in Pend Oreille County, Wash., on Friday, November 1, 2013. (Young Kwak/The Pacific Northwest Inlander)

Workers guide an eighty-eight foot Engelmann Spruce, destined to be the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree, onto a truck, in the Colville National Forest, in Pend Oreille County, Wash., on Friday, November 1, 2013. (Young Kwak/The Pacific Northwest Inlander)